Watch the Book Talk - Owen Fiss and “The Dictates of Justice: Essays on Law and Human Rights”

Owen Fiss reflects upon his time advising Argentinian President Raúl Alfonsín and his administration during the human rights trials that the country conducted in the mid 1980s. From this experience, Fiss came to see human rights as universal social ideals that are also deeply rooted in a country's processes of national self-determination. In his talk, Professor Fiss will further explain how states engaging in the transition from dictatorship to democracy, like Argentina, can protect human rights through civil, not just criminal, proceedings. He will also discuss the right degree of independence that judges from other branches of government in the transition to democracy. Fiss also takes on the human rights issues posed by the fight against terrorism in the post-9/11 era within the context of national law.